The Way Things Change
by randomfics
Summary: When they had rammed into the mountain, they didn't drop into stasis lock, instead they had found themselves trapped, still alive. Now they must struggle to work together, or die together. G1 AU


It wasn't supposed to turn out this way. The tall red and blue mech had _known_ that nothing ever turned out the way it was planned, but this was beyond anything that he had ever planned for. Beyond what any of them had planned for really.

His CPU swept to the past when he had been a simple dockworker, and Cybertron, although not at its most glorious time, had certainly had been beautiful compared to what it was now. Back then, he had listened gravely to the protests and grumblings by the miners, but had never bothered to pay any more attention to that, thinking they were just that. Protests.

Then came the spark. The single spark needed to ignite the face of the planet into war. A mine had collapsed, and the corrupted leaders had refused to send in relief aid. The underground faction had gleefully taken their chance, and Orion Pax had been among the first ones hurt.

He had been given a second chance at living, had taken it, and now-

_Things were not supposed to turn out this way._

Cybertron was nothing but a wasted hunk of metal now. The grand pieces of construction, the metallic animals that had romped through the city, the beautiful flat plains for mechs and families to have picnics and other various activities-

All had been twisted into a wasteland, horrid beyond doubt. Buildings threatened to crumble and fall, there were no such things as neutrals anymore. Even if one proclaimed they were neutral, they truly weren't. Either they thought others should be allowed to live, or they didn't.

Energon was almost completely gone. Daily more mechs fell to energon starvation then any other cause, and even Decepticons felt the strain of not having new energy. No more animals romped about on planet- not freely at least. Those that were still alive were alive only through whatever grace of Primus there was left. All of the stupid, nicer ones had been torn apart for the meager energon they possessed.

That was why they were here in the first place. This ship- the Ark, had been built under top-secret conditions as Autobots worked hard to ensure that their commander would be able to travel to new planets, and maybe, hopefully, get in contact with old allies on distant planets to create new energy for the dying people.

Trapped! Stopped! The mech spark burned as he remembered how when they had been boarding the ship, Elita-One had managed to find out what he was doing and had come to bid him farewell. Then, cruelty upon cruelty, they had been attacked! Decepticons had once again found out what was going on.

They had taken off, mechs voices worriedly shouting about how the Decepticons had sent off a ship after them. How? How had they managed it? He wasn't sure, but the Decepticons had hooked up to them.

Then, then came the hardest part to bear. Both ships had gone careening off across the universe as the two crews battled hand to hand, Autobots gathering in the main bridge, the rec room, and in the front half of the ship. Decepticons had eagerly followed after, leaving their own ship unattended.

Nobody had realized what was going on, until Prowl had shouted something about another planet.

He had only time for one look, before the collision course was made clear, and the ship burrowed into the side of the mountain. All thoughts ended, as he faded into unconsciousness.

-----(Pov break)-----

_Why did things end up this way?_

He had once been a miner, a mech who had worked so closely with energon he felt that he knew all of its properties. And he did. He was an illegal gladiator, a miner, a leader, one that others had flocked too as corrupted leaders refused to give them what they needed to survive.

He and they had all known what the Autobots had thought- they were cruel, merciless beings with only a lust for energon. Of course they were! Let the Autobots labor in near slave labor in the mines, knowing at any moment they could be killed by a fickle chance of fate, and not given enough in return to compensate for the dangers! Let them try! They would no doubt die before they got far!

He had merely been attempting to restore order to the rotten, corrupted government- he had never meant for it to go this far. No, he hadn't. He only wanted euqlity- the very things that Autobots touted so freely. He couldn't care less about other species, but that was because they had cared nothing about them.

Decepticons still remembered the times when they had fought off invading alien attacks. They remembered. Autobots remembered nothing. They would gladly give an 'free and open hand' to anyone other then their own species!

Sick pain clawed at his spark as the oft whispered words came back to haunt him. _'If they tried, they could find themselves a much better job.'_ Try? Why try? How try? How could they try among a society that refused to give them a second chance, refused to give them the proper education needed _to_ pull themselves out of the pit.

Even the few scientists that were part of the Decepticons had spoken bitterly about how they had been treated. The leaders of the college had insisted that they were to double-check all findings with Autobots- and usually the Autobots took all credit for the findings!

There had been a few who were different- but only a few. That was why the scientists had banded behind him, silently throwing in their support for the Decepticon cause.

It was supposed to be a simple war. A war that was only supposed to last for a few joors. Even he had underestimated how many would still stubbornly cling to the ideals of the Autobots, and refuse to give up to the Decepticons, even after all of those who had been clearly built for fighting rallied behind him.

So he had fought on. He hadn't attempted to make a peace treaty with this new 'Optimus Prime', figuring him to be one of the children of the rich, corrupted Council that had previously held sway. Instead he had continued on his journey, slaughtering the council members.

When he was done, he had thought he would be satisfied- instead the Autobots, screaming loudly about the deaths, had instead attacked _him_ and his party. Many had been taken aback for a few cycles when they received the news, and then the fight for the planet had started.

Slowly he had watched the planet he had been originally been fighting for his children to be able to enjoy with no fear, no pain, slowly waste away. Slowly he had watched as his own group become more twisted, more willing to do anything in order to get the war over, and get back to rebuilding Cybertron.

The Autobots had matched them, step for step. Now, now he wondered if anything could've been done differently, and as the planet flashed before his optics, he wondered distantly if he was going to die, taking all of his commanders with him. Shockwave would be able to hold out the Decepticon base- but was it worth it? Was anything worth it anymore?

Cybertron was nothing but a wasted hunk of metal, and he was tired. Only pride goaded him on, urging him to fight for a glorious future. And fight he would

_It wasn't supposed to turn out this way._

Screams of surprise and panic reached his auditory receptors, he saw his nemeses sigh one time, optics tired as he felt, before they plowed into the mountain, and blackness became overwhelming.

* * *

_a/n: Erm, not to worry, more will be coming? Anyways, I tried really hard to dig into the CPU of Prime and Megatron here, so please tell how well you think I did. _


End file.
